Dental cleansing device



N0v. 3,A 1942. A M GOLDENBERG f .l 2,300,828

i l DENTAL CLEANSING DEVICE Filed Feb. 8, 1940 Patented Nov. 3, 1942 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a rotary dental cleansing device which is adapted to be removably mounted on the drill-head customarily employed by dentists so that it can be rotated by the same meansernployed to rotate the drills which dentists use for cleaning out cavities.

When the teeth of a patient are cleaned by a dentist, the tartar is usually chipped oir with a hand tool, and then the tooth is polished by a rotary cleansing element which is customarily dipped from time to time in a suitable dentifrice so as to provide the proper abrasive substance for cleaning off the remaining bits of tartar from the tooth surface.

According to the present invention, a rotary cleansing device is provided which includes a container or reservoir for an'extrudable abrasive substance which is automatically fed to the cleansing element during the use thereof. To this end, the cleansing element is mounted on the end of a piston rod which vprojects from a container. Pressure of the cleansing element against a tooth when in service pushes the piston rod and also the piston on the inner end of the rod so as to force the abrasive substance within l the cylinder through an axial duct in the piston rod and cleansing element as hereinafter described.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a drill-head of the cleansing element shown in Figures l, 2,

and 3.

Figure 6 is a sectional View similar to Figure 5, showing a modied form of cleansing element.

In Figure 1 is illustrated a conventional drillhead Iat the end of a exible cable I2 within which is a flexible shaft driven by a suitable motor, this shaft and motor not being shown. Attached to the drill-head I0 is an angle bracket I4 of customary construction, this bracket being detachable from the drill-head I0. Within the bracket are a pair of mitre gears I6 and I8, the mitre gear I6 being the driving gear and the mitre gear I8 being the driven gear. The gear I8 is mounted on or is a part of a hollow shaft 55 2i) within which is telescoped a removable spindle 22. The spindle 22 is kept in place by a suitable lever 240 which may be rocked to permit the removal of the spindle 22 fromrthe bracket.`

Mounted on the lower end of the spindle 22 is a hollow cylindrical container which may comprise a cylinder head 24 which is permanently secured to or a part of the spindle 22, and a cylinder 2S which is detachably secured to the cylinder head 24 as by a screw-thread or otherwise Within the cylinder 26 is slidably fitted a suitable piston 38 to which is secured a piston rod 32. The piston rod projects through an aperture 34 in the end wall 36 of the cylinder. The cross section of the piston rod 32 and the shape of the aperture 34 in which the rod is fitted are square or some other non-round shape, so that as the cylinder rotates with the spindle 22 the piston rod 32 is forced to rotate with the cylinder. At the lower end of the rod 32 is mounted a cleansing element 4B. This element may comprise, as illustrated in Figure 5, a core member 42 of metal or other material of suiiicient strength, this core member being screw-threaded as shown so as to be readily attachable to the lower end of the rod 32. Mounted on the core member 42 is a body member 44 of soft rubber or the like, this body member having a hollow conical cupped extension 46 projecting down therefrom and integral therewith to engage tooth surfaces to clean and polish the same. The core 42 may be made with one or more suitable flanges or lateral projections 48 to retain the body 44 in place on the core. The core and body are also made with a central axial duct 5U which com-v ,the cylinder and cleansing element also rotate therewith. The conical extension 46 is pressed against the dental surfaces to be cleaned andA polished, and the resulting axial pressure on the ,piston causes the dentifrice 56 to be extruded through the axial ducts 52 and 50 into the interior of the extension 46 where it impinges on the dental surfaces engaged by the extension 46.

Figure 6 illustrates a modied form of cleansing element lconsisting of a core 42 on which is mounted a body 44 of a suitable plastic such as rubber. Projecting down from the body 44 are a number of bristles 6U which may be embedded in the body 44 and may be so arranged as to form a hollow conical extension approximately similar in size and shape to the soft rubber extension 45 illustrated in Figure 5.

It is evident that various modications and changes may be made in the specic embodiments of the invention shown and described without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as dened in the following claims.

I claim:

l. A device of the class described, comprising a rotatable dental cleansing member, a container for detergent material rotatable with said member, means for rotating said member and container, and means responsive to axial pressure on said member t0 force detergent material from said container to said member, said last-named means comprising a piston slidable in said 'container and rotatable with said member.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a rotatable spindle, a cylinder secured to an end of said spindle and coaxial therewith, a piston slidable Within said cylinder, a piston rod secured to said piston and projecting from the end of the cylinder remote from said spindle, said rod being rotatable with the cylinder and spindle, and a rotary cleansing member mounted on the outer end of said rod, said rod and cleansing member having a central duct therethrough whereby detergent material in said cylinder can pass into the interior of said cleansing member.

3. A device of the class described, comprising a rotatable spindle with a cylinder-head at one end thereof, a cylinder removably secured to said cylinder-head to form therewith a container for extrudable detergent material, a piston slidable in said cylinder, a piston rcd secured to said piston and projecting from the end of the cylinder opposite said cylinder-head, means for causing said rod to rotate with said cylinder, and a cleansing member secured to said rod to rotate therewith, said rod and cleansing member having an axial duct through which detergent material may be forced from said cylinder to said cleansing member by axial pressure on said member.

ALEXANDER M. GOLDENBERG. 

